Tenants of Jersey City's St. Paul's Avenue building still cannot go home

Tenants are still barred from returning to 422 St. Paul’s Ave. in Jersey City.

The tenants have been displaced since October, when Jersey City Municipal Court Judge Nesle Rodriguez ruled that Giglio Banerjee, the owner of 422 St. Paul’s Ave., had to pay hotel bills for his five tenants until he installed hot-water heaters at the building, which is being renovated.

Tony Schiovone, the tenant who brought the problems at the building to the city’s attention in August, told The Jersey Journal that on Wednesday morning, managers at the Comfort Inn Suites in North Bergen told him and another displaced tenant that the landlord had stopped paying their hotel bills and they had to leave.

“(That is) a violation of the court if tenants have been removed from the hotel,” said Jersey City Construction Code Official Ray Meyer, who was not aware of the latest development. “We can only tell them to do so much ... at the end of the day they have to perform. Every step was taken to make this gentleman fix the property.”

Banerjee referred all questions to his attorney, Felix Montalvo, who could not be reached for comment. Managers at the Comfort Inn Suites declined to comment.

Yesterday, Schiovone said he was moved to the Homestead Studio Suites in Secaucus, located at 1 Plaza Drive, after staying with a friend for a couple of days.

Two hot-water heaters were installed at the St. Paul’s Avenue building in August, but the city said they were installed incorrectly. Because of that and a slew of other violations at the building, PSE&G turned off the gas.

Schiovone says the St. Paul’s building still has “no gas, no hot water, and no heat.”

“Construction is still in progress and we have a scheduled gas test (at 422 St. Paul’s Ave.) Friday,” said Joe Mizzone, the Jersey City plumbing sub code supervisor, earlier this week.

City officials could not be reached yesterday to learn the results of the test.